b o o k s th o f February, the 3d o f March, and the 5th o f April, o f
■— ,— I the following year. On the firft o f May another veflel was
launched, and on the 9th Peter returned to Mofcow. T he
death o f Brandt, which foon followed, feems to have interrupted
the increafe o f this little fleet, but did not prevent
Peter from continuing his expeditions upon the lake. T h e
following extracts, from General Gordon’s Journal, will ihow
with what eagernefs the young monarch purfued his new
occupation, when fuch trifling incidents as weighing anchor,
and failing acrofs a lake, are circumftantially delineated.
“ Gordon went On the x i th o f Au gu ft to P e re fla f; on
“ the 14th he was entertained in due form and ceremony on
“ board o f the admiral’s * fh ip ; on the x 8th,” he adds, “ we
“ failed from one fide o f the lake to th e oppcfite b an k ; on
“ the 2 1 ft we got under way, and failed to the other fide,
“ where we again came to an anchor ; on the 24th Gordon
“ attended the tzar on ihip-board; on the 28 th we departed
from Pereflaf, and on the 3 1 ft reached Alex a efik.”
But as the confined limits o f a lake were become too inadequate
to the rifing ideas o f the tzar, he hurried to Archangel,
where he arrived in the month o f June, 169 3 .
“ On the 1 7 th ,” fays Gordon, “ the poft brought the
“ news that the tzar had been upon the White Sea, and
“ was happily arrived into port, and on the 1 i th o f Odtober
li he came back to Mofcow. In the beginning o f May,
“ l 6 9 4 > he returned to Archangel, and continued in thofe
“ Parts until September, during which time he made fre-
“ quent expeditions upon the fea, and improved his know-
** ledge o f navigation.”
* Mr. Muller conjeih.res that L e Fort was the adwiraNf- this little fijuadron.
Thefe
Thefe little adventures, which feemed nothing more than chap.
mere youthful amufements, were, however, foon afterwards
productive of the moft glorious event which diftinguifhed
the reign of Peter. When the tzar, in his campaign of
1695 again ft the Turks, befieged Azof, he found it impoffi-
t0 take the town without blocking up the harbour, and
as he did not at that time poflefs one fhip, he was compelled
to raife the liege.. ; .. . ■ <
His fpint being excited, rather than extinguiibed, bv this
appointment, h e Save orders for the immediate conftruction
of feveral vefiels : feme were framed at Occa, and trarr-
fported over land to the Don; but the greateflr part were
built at Veronetz. In lefs than a year he renewed the liege
0 Azof’ and b ought before it, to the infinite furprize of the
Turks, two men of war, 2.5 gallies,. two galleots, and four
re-ihips.*. With this little fquadron, which failed down
the Don into, the Black Sea, he blockaded the harbour, gained
a naval victory over the Turkifh gallies, and took Azof. He
hgnalized this wonderful event by a triumphal entry into
-Mofcow, and by a medal reprefenting the taking of Azof
with a motto in Ruffian, “ Vtotor by thunder and the waves ”
This fuccefs was only the prelude to ifi/l greater a ch ie v e m
en ts ; and as the fecurky o f his new conquefts upon the
Black Sea feemed to depend upon a powerful navy, the tzar
having collected from all quarters the moft expert fhip-
builders, and himfelf fuperintended the neceffary preparations
at Veronetz, Azo f, and Taganroc, fat out upon his firft-
expedition into foreign parts. In 16 9 9 , foon after his return,
he was prefent at a naval review upon the Black Sea,
in which ten frigates were engaged, the largeft carrvin^.
a f t jv and. the fnaalleft twenty-fix guns + :. and the Ruffian
* S ..R , G . vol.-II. p . i - 6 . . "Jl *’ ; ' ' t I b k t p. i S :( .
navy*